Can be used as a noun and an adjective interchangeably: "It's a Lemon story" and "It's a Lemon" are functionally equivalent. Those fond of Lemons refer to it as 'Lemony Goodness'. Surprisingly, the term is not automatically synonymous with "bad", or even "vulgar". It's also subjective. Some people believe that it has only to be penetrative to be a Lemon, some believe that it has to be explicitly penetrative, while others believe that if it goes into enough arousing detail, even reaching second base can be a Lemon. Somebody venturing into sex scenes for the first time may see a fic as a lemon, while a more experienced reader may consider it a Lime.

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The term was originally specific to the anime fanfiction community, although by the early-middle 2000s it had spread to other fandoms as an alternative to just calling something porn or smut. The origin of the term is obscure, but the most common etymology traces it back to the classic hentai anime series Cream Lemon, by way of an early mailing list for publishing erotic anime fanfic, called "The Lemon List" in its honor. The term derives from the idea that like a lemon, sexuality looks beautiful and alluring, but when you experience it more directly, it's bitter and sour.

While the complementary term Lime still has some usage, there was actually at one time an entire "Citrus Scale" with various fruit code names (Citrus —> Orange —> Lime —> Lemon —> Grapefruit).

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